Green Monster Epic

Chapter 498: Proposal (Happy National Day!!)

“I heard that the two leaders haven't been having a very good time lately!!”

When Allen visited Nasir Fortress again to meet with the tribal leaders, Arielle and Maggot Eye, it had already been half a year since his return to Namur Fortress.

In these six months, the trolls of the Snow Miri tribe and the jackals of the Raven's Claw had several more skirmishes, each scene more tragic than the last, showing a tendency to get out of control. Because of the restlessness of the bottom-level tribesmen, the two leaders, who originally got along well and basically maintained consistency in their actions, could now feel a bit of estrangement when sitting together.

“Humph!!”

Maggot Eye cocked his fierce head to the side, making a disdainful snort.

Just last week, their two tribes had another skirmish, but this time, although the scale of the skirmish was not too large, there were rare casualties. A female jackal was trampled to death in the chaotic squeeze.

For the sake of the long-term relationship between the two tribes, no one was ultimately held responsible for the death of this female jackal, which further shook Maggot Eye's authority among the tribesmen.

“The affairs between our two tribes don’t need Chief Allen to worry about!!”

Arielle's eyes were sharp, warning Allen.

“Hurry up and deal with what needs to be done, it's been dragging on for a whole half year!!”

Due to the preparation of the tax department, the contract, which originally stipulated that the income would be settled once a year, has now been delayed until half of the second year has passed before the establishment of the tax department can be considered officially on track. So, Allen's main purpose in coming to Nasir Fortress this time was to fulfill the contract signed with the Snow Miri and Raven's Claw tribes and complete the first distribution of benefits among their three tribes.

In addition to Allen, Arielle, and Maggot Eye, there were a total of 6 representatives from the three tribes in the room, each with a thick stack of account books piled in front of them. They were the tax officials of the two fortresses.

“Okay, let's have your reports.”

Allen smiled slightly. Since Arielle and Maggot Eye clearly didn't want to talk about these unpleasant things, he didn't need to continue to dwell on them.

“Let's talk about the situation on the Nasir Fortress side first.”

“Okay.”

The three tax officials of different races sitting to the left of Allen and the other two leaders opened the account books that had been prepared in front of them and reported to the three leaders in the room one by one.

“Last year, the total revenue of Nasir Fortress Castle was 272,394 gold coins, and there were other types of collateral such as grains and jewelry, which should be worth about 30,000 gold coins when converted into gold coins…”

“Among them, the head tax and commercial tax from the northern caravans entering the city accounted for more than 60%, totaling…”

“In addition, the income from renting out shops in the city and operating franchise items totaled 43,772 coins…”

“In the previous year, the Snow Miri and Raven's Claw tribes withdrew a total of 200,000 gold coins from the accounts in advance for expenses such as repairing the city defenses and paying salaries in Nasir Fortress…”

“Now the year-end balance on the books is a total of 134,218 gold coins stored in the treasury, and various non-gold coin materials are worth about 40,000 gold coins.”

Listening to the detailed and accurate income reports from the three tribes' most intelligent and loyal tax officials, Arielle and Maggot Eye gradually frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with the current income.

How could they be satisfied!!

According to the expectations of the two leaders, the Nasir Fortress under their control had to maintain an income of at least 500,000 gold coins in order for their two tribes to distribute enough funds for their tribal lives.

Originally, they thought that the financial benefits brought by the two fortresses blocking the trade route were so huge, far exceeding the gains of their respective tribes in their original territories, which would make everyone's lives not so difficult. However, only after truly controlling this fortress did Arielle and the others realize that while income increased, the cost was even more expenditure.

For example, food. In their original tribes, most of the rations were obtained by cultivating land and planting crops, and hunting in the hunting grounds. However, in the vast foothills north of Nasir Fortress, the land was not suitable for large-scale cultivation and planting, and hunting prey had to be done by trekking to farther places to obtain it. More food supplies had to be obtained by purchasing with money.

Another example is cloth, salt, and other daily necessities, all of which need to be purchased with money…

After reporting the income situation of Nasir Fortress, the next step was the income report of Namur Fortress. After another team of tax officials reported the situation of Namur Fortress to Arielle and the other two in detail, their faces looked slightly better.

From the books, the income of Namur Fortress was much higher than that of Nasir Fortress. Obviously, through the method of cooperative management of taxes, Arielle and the other two tribes had gained some advantages.

“The decrease in last year’s income is largely related to the Drow blocking the trade route to the north. Since the ceasefire agreement took effect this year, the number of caravans coming from the north has increased a lot, and it should not be too difficult to restore the previous income in the future.”

After the income reports of the two fortresses were completed, Allen said comfortingly to Arielle and Maggot Eye.

“Those damn Drow!!”

Maggot Eye's eyes flashed fiercely, and he roared in a low voice.

“Okay, let's calculate how much funds and materials we can each get!!”

Arielle didn't have too many emotions, just calmly said to Allen and the others about the things they cared about most.

The remaining surplus funds were actually not too much of a problem. Everyone's share had already been clearly written in the contract, and it was enough to distribute according to the proportion. The only slightly troublesome thing was probably the batch of materials that could not be completely quantified, because only rough estimates caused some controversy.

When everything was almost over, Allen, at the invitation of Arielle and Maggot Eye, walked up to the newly repaired castle wall together, overlooking the busy scene inside and outside the city.

Different from the method of placing tribesmen in Namur Fortress, the city wall of Nasir Fortress extends outward, and there are also many simple thatched houses and tents and other living buildings. Compared with the city, which still has defense teams to restrain them, the lowest-level troll and jackal families outside the city are almost mixed together without any rules.

Therefore, the fights, brawls, and melees that arise are far more frequent than inside the city. However, most of the families outside the city are old, weak, sick, and disabled. Even if there is a group fight, there are rarely serious bloodshed incidents. More often, groups of natives form gangs to bully the weaker ones.

Just in time, a team of a dozen trolls blocked two jackal women and children who had just returned from the wilderness in the north, forcefully rummaging through the baskets behind them for some food that looked like wild vegetables and field mice, and then kicked the two jackals who were crying and lying on the ground a couple of times before swaggering away.

Seeing this scene, Maggot Eye's eyes burst out with a faint anger, both ashamed of the unpromising performance of his tribesmen and indignant at the behavior of the trolls.

Before Maggot Eye could react, Ariel, with a calm expression, pried a few stones from the city wall. With a flick of his finger, the heads of several trolls in the slum-like living area below exploded like ripe watermelons.

The remaining trolls, who were lucky enough not to be targeted, scurried around in panic, clutching their heads. At the same time, they did not forget to look up and search for the killer, until they discovered Chief Ariel's icy old face on the city wall above. The lucky few, scared out of their wits, fled into the dark and foul-smelling alleyways of the shacks.

On the ground, blood flowed from the corpses of the trolls, and the sudden change left many natives unaware of what had happened.

After a while, several ghostly figures, smelling the bloody scent, quietly appeared around the chaotic murder scene. They cautiously peered around, and after observing the surroundings, they quickly ran to the corpses, looted the few remaining spoils from the troll bodies, and then disappeared into the dark tent area.

The three leaders were already used to the scene below. However, Ariel's previous actions softened the expression on Maggot Eye's face.

Beyond the reach of sight, but within the perception of the strong's mental power and hearing, there were faint sounds of female wails, painful cries for mercy, male excited gasps, and even the sounds of clothes tearing and tables and chairs overturning. Although they could not see the whole picture, everyone knew the law of survival in the wilderness and naturally understood what was happening.

"This won't do. If this continues, I'm afraid the two chiefs won't be able to suppress the hatred and hostility in your clansmen's hearts!"

Allen's eyes revealed a strong look of worry, as if he was thinking of both sides, and he spoke to persuade them.

"These things are no trouble for Chief Allen to worry about!"

Ariel flatly rejected Allen's kindness, while Maggot Eye on the other side showed a faint look of vigilance.

The trolls and gnolls had learned the means of this burly bear goblin in previous collaborations. No one dared to guarantee what kind of disaster was hidden in the seemingly well-intentioned words of this bear goblin.

"...It seems I'm being meddlesome."

Allen shrugged, not too annoyed. Then, he changed the subject and brought up something that Ariel and the others were very interested in.

"However, I do have some small suggestions regarding the decline in the tax revenue of Nasir Fortress. I wonder if the two of you are interested?"

When it came to matters of vital interest, no one would refuse. When Ariel and Maggot Eye cast inquiring glances and nodded slightly to express their attitude, Allen, based on the scene before him, put forward his views.

"Actually, in recent years, as I have managed the development of the Green Field Tribe, I have discovered a rather interesting thing. That is, many seemingly inconspicuous trades, which seem to have little profit, actually have considerable potential, especially in the supplies that everyone needs every day."

"For example, grain. The cheapest coarse oatmeal can be bought for about ten pounds for one silver coin, and the finest Morning Light wheat flour is only 3 silver coins a pound. In the eyes of the two of you, it may not seem like much."

"And coarse salt, three pounds can be bought for one silver coin, enough for a family of three to eat for two or three months; even refined salt that has been deeply processed is only one silver coin a pound, and ordinary families can afford it with a little effort..."

"Although these things seem to be of little value, their average profit is not low. Even the lowest-level retail vendors can have at least 20% profit after deducting various expenses and costs. It's just that the sales range of these commodities is too wide, and the value is not noticeable, so the two of you may not have paid attention to it all along."

"But these materials are necessary for the stable development of the tribe and daily life. If they cannot be supplied stably, it is very likely to cause tribal unrest and various consequences."

"Therefore, in recent years, my tribe has been carrying out unified purchase and sales measures for materials such as grain, salt, and cloth, limiting the price to a relatively low range to maintain the daily needs of the tribesmen."

"Although the price is low and the profit does not seem to be much, the daily consumption of the tribesmen is huge. For example, grain, a necessity, can bring more than three thousand gold coins in revenue to the grain and oil shops run by my tribe every year."

"In addition, the exclusive sale of other livelihood resources such as salt and cooking oil can provide my tribe with an additional profit of more than five thousand gold coins."

"There are many benefits to doing this. For example, it can provide more bargaining power through bulk purchases. At the same time, because of the large amount of purchases, it is easier to build a stable supply and demand chain and minimize the problem of material shortages."

"Of course, there are other benefits to doing this, such as providing more job opportunities for the clansmen of the two of you."

The things Allen said were basically economic knowledge that the Green Field Tribe had verified in Green Lake Town and Namur Fortress. There was not much exaggeration, and he was not worried that the other party would find fault.

And obviously, Chief Ariel and Chief Maggot Eye were not fools either. As Allen's statement attracted their interest, they also began to inquire in detail about the mysteries. To this, Allen also told the other party everything he knew without concealment, which greatly shocked the two alien chiefs.

No wonder the few families in the tribe who specialize in grain and cloth are all strong and have a good foundation. It turns out that they have been making a fortune in silence all along!!

No, this kind of money-making method must be controlled in the hands of one's own family!!

The pupils of the two chiefs reacted differently, but they also had similarities, all filled with complex emotions such as greed and prudence.

"I wonder if the two chiefs are interested in working with my Green Field Tribe to build a business that monopolizes the basic livelihood of grain, oil, and salt in Namur and Nasir Fortress?"

Allen had spent so much effort for the current proposal. As he cast his gaze on the two chiefs with burning eyes, the two chiefs, who were already moved, became cautious again.

Ariel's mind was full of thoughts, constantly pondering the true purpose of Allen's proposal, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what Allen could do to target their tribe.

As for Maggot Eye, he didn't have too many ideas. He himself was not good at economics and trade. Although he also had some ability in scheming, he was still a little behind compared to the two opponents and allies in front of him. Therefore, while thinking, he still focused his attention on Ariel to see what he would choose.

Oops, the chapter should be 19!!